Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer

UPDATE: The Flyers announced before Thursday's game that they had signed Timonen.

The Flyers will sign veteran defenseman Kimmo Timonen to a one-year, $6 million extension in the next few days, a league source confirmed Wednesday night.

Timonen, who will turn 38 next month, would have been eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in July. He has a $6.3 million cap hit this season.

The signing is somewhat surprising because it would mean the Flyers have already committed about $62.1 million on just 19 players --including the injured Chris Pronger -- toward next year's $64.3 million cap.